Rail tie plate



J. T. WALKER.

RAIL TIE PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN;.3, 1922.

1,420, 1 68., PatentedJune 20, 1922.

UNlThiD @FlFlQE...

RAIL TIE PLATE.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented June 2d, 1922.

Application filed January 3, 1922. Serial No. 526,682.

ToaZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES T. Milken, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lafo'llette, in the county of Campbell and State ofTennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail TiePlates, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadto the accompanying draw- 111g.

My improvement relates particularly to tie plates placed between railwaytrack rails and wooden ties, the plates being secured to the ties withspikes.

The object of my invention is to provide a tie plate which permitssidewise adjustment of the rail to maintain the track gauge withoutmoving the tie plate, in order that the plate may remain well secured tothe tie.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of my improved tie plate, looking parallel to thelength of the track, a rail being shown in section on the plate;

Fig. 2 is a view of the same plate, looking toward the right of Fig. 1,a part being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the plate and a part of the rail, a part of thetongue being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the same plate,

Fig. 5 is a detached plan of a filling or wearing member;

Fig. 6 is an upright section on the line, 6-6, of Fig. 4c, the platehaving been turned right side up;

Fig. 7 is a reduced perspective of the same plate;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line, 8-8, of Fig. 2, looking toward theright;

Fig. 9 is a detail view of filling or wearing members of three sizes.

Referring to said drawings, A is the body of the plate. On the lowerface of the plate are horizontal ribs. B. Said ribs are of zigzag orindirect form, in order that they may be longer and adapted to make moreextended engagement with the upper face of the tie.

On the upper face of the plate, between the middle and one of the endedges of the plate is a tongue, E, which rises from the plate and isthen directed horizontally toward the middle line of the plate. Theheight of said tongue is suflioient to admit a part of the foot of therail, R. Between said tongue and the adjacent end edge of the plate arethree spike holes, C, only large enough to permit driving an ordinaryrailway track spike through them into the tie. Near the opposite endedge of the plate are a spike hole, C, and a spike hole, D, the hole, G,being the same in size as the holes, C, at the other end of the plate,while the hole, D, is elongated parallel to the length of the plate andperpendicular to the length of the rail, R, and reaching at least as faras the space to be occupied by the foot of the rail when it is firstset. Beneath the tongue is a base, F, extending parallel to the lengthof the tongue and to the length of the rail, said base being athickening of the plate to give the plate additional strength and tomake an eX- tended bearing on the upper face of the tie, with a view toreducing tendency to crush or wear away the upper face of the tie bydownward-pressure through the outer part of ti e foot of the rail. thepart of the rail which is engaged beneath the tongue, E.

The tie plate is to be secured to the upper face of the tie and toremain so secured as long as the plate remains in service on said tie.For this purpose, ordinary railroad spikes are to be driven. through thespike holes, C. Driving these spikes will tend to press the ribs, B,into the surface of'the wood of the tie, making an engagement which willtend to give the plate stability on the tie. The lengthening of saidribs by making them zigzag or indirect increases such engagement.

"When the rail, R, is in position on the plate, the outer edge of thefoot of the rail having been put under the tongue, E, a spike is driveninto the elongated hole, D. close to the foot of the rail, so that thehead oi the spike will engage the upper face of said foot. Then saidspike serves to hold the rail against movement away from the tongue, B.As is well known in the railway service, there is relatively smalltendency to movement of the track rail inward or toward the middle ofthe track, the major sidewise force exerted on the rail being outward.Hence the major sidewise force is to be resisted by the tongue, E, andsidewise movement of the tongue is resisted by all the spikes, C.

To maintain the gauge of the track-the distance between the heads of therails-I have made provision for adjusting the rail sidewise relative tothe tongue. For this rail is secured as it was'before.

purpose filling or wearing members, G, are placed between the uprightpart of the tongue, E, and the adjacent edge of the foot of the rail, R.

Before the plate is secured to the tie, it is put into position toproperly space the rail from the opposite companion rail with no spaceat all bet-ween the upright part of the tongue and the adjacent edge ofthe foot of the rail or with only enough space to admit between saidparts a thin filling or wearing member, G. The latter is the preferablecourse, because then wear exerted by the adjacent edge of the foot ofthe rail will reduce said filling member and reduction and subsequentweakening of the tongue are pre vented. This is an important practicalfeature; for if the upright part of the tongue were thus Worn and the pate thereby weakened, there would be danger of said tongue breaking andallowing the adjacent rail to move outward, which would involve trackspreading, an accident which it is important to avoid. When such afilling or wearing member has become too much worn for further service,it may be replaced by another such member, and that requires only smallsacrifice.

If the outer edge of the foot of the rail or the inner side of the headof the rail become worn to such extent as to widen the gage to anobjectionable extent, the filling member then in position between thetongue and the foot of the rail may be replaced by a thicker member. Forthis, it is only neces sary to draw the spike from the long hole, D,after which the rail may be moved sidewise toward the middle of thetrack to free the old filling member and allow putting into its placeone that is thicker. After the new filling member has been put intoposition, the rail is again moved horizontally outward until it bearsagainst the new fill ing member. Then the spike is again insertedthrough the elongated spike hole, D, of the plate and into or near thesocket which it previously occupied in the tie. T lips the 1g. 9 showsthree filling or wearing members of different thicknesses. These areonly for illustration. It is to be understood that any number of suchmembers of any desired thicknesses may be made and used by the track menas needed for the proper spacing of the rails from each other.

To keep said members from working endwise, they are made as long as theupright part of the tongue and their ends are provided withlaterally-directed heads, G1, which over-lap the ends of the uprightpart of the tongue.

From the foregoing it will now be better understood that there isadvantage in making adjustment between the rail and the tie plate andleaving the tie plate immovable on the tie. It will be understood thatthe spikes will hold better if their seating in the wood is notdisturbed, and the engagement of the ribs, B, in the wood of the tiewill last longer if those ribs are allowed to remain in the channelswhich they form in the wood when the tie plate is first put intoposition.

I claim as my invention,

1. The combination of a tie plate having a tongue adapted to receive theouter edge of the foot of a track rail and having spike holes locatedfar enough away from V the space on which the foot of the rail is to beseated to avoid engagement of the rail by spikes set in said holes andsaid spike holes being of size to receive ordinary spikes and said platehaving an elongated spike hole reaching to the position to be occupiedby the inner edge of the foot of the rail, andxa filling or wearingmember adjoining said tongue in position to receive the outer edge ofthe foot of therail, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a tie plate having a tongue adapted to receive theouter edge of the foot of a track rail and having spike holes locatedfar enough away front the space on which the foot ofthe rail is to beseated to avoid engagement of they rail by spikes set in said holes andsaid spike holes being of size to receive ordinary spikes and said platehaving an elongated. spike hole reaching to the position to be occupiedby the inner edge. of the foot of the rail, a filling or wearing memberadjoining said tongue in position to receive the outer edge of the footof the rail, and said filling or wearingmemher having heads over-lappingthe ends of the upright part of the tongue, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, this 29th day of December,in the year one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one.

J AMES T. lVALKER.

